Rumored Apple iPad advertisement surfaces

Just days before Apple’s special event to launch what is said to be a tablet computer, a possible tablet advertisementhas surfaced according to French blog NoWhereElse.fr. The video, now posted on YouTube(and embedded below), looks genuine but many commenters, including myself, are a bit dubious.

The supposed ad is in English and has the look and feel of an Apple ad — cool graphics and a unique song overlay. However, the device in the ad looks very suspicious. While images of the device are still unknown, the device in the ad doesn’t seem to match any of the recent speculation. It doesn’t stack up especially against ongoing claims that Apple’s tablet will look a lot like the iPhone, but with a larger screen.

However, there are a few aspects of the commercial that could support its authenticity. The ad highlights the device has been in the making for the past 10 years. Apple did start the a project in the early 1990s called The Newton. As one of the first PDAs (personal device assistant), the Newton had similar parallels to Apple’s tablet but ultimately failed. Also, the commercial notes that the device will revolutionize personal computing. That’s a statement that many have in fact agreed upon even before its launch.

Finally, the advertisement dubs the new Apple tablet as the iPad. We’ve seen this mentioned before in rumors, along with the possible name, iSlate. The name iPad makes sense. If the device is meant to be a product extension of the iPhone, with a larger screen, then iPad would be just that — a pad like the iPhone.

Update: Since Apple’s launch of the iPad, we can safely say that this commercial is in fact not real.